CAT Trip

Materials

 

 

Out and About

The Wise Building

Information Design around CAT

Q) Materials lightness, suitability for purpose, minimalising of materials use and 'clever or smart' usages of materials were all considerations discussed at CAT with Jo. With your present designs for the WVB package mixed with the research that you've done to date and some of Jo's discussions suggest 3 ways in which you might minimise your materials use with your package.

A) My initial thoughts are to think of another design which uses less board. After reading the Envirowise Guide (page 11) I found that under packaging can be far worse for the environment than over packaging. Over-packaging by 10% means that 10% of the resources needed to produce the packaging are wasted and extra fuel will be needed to distribute it.

Under-packaging that results in the product being spoilt or damaged wastes 100% of the resources used to produce both the contents and its packaging, and all the fuel used to distribute it.

Another way could be to use thinner board material and the other option would be to find a more flexible material to work with which will lessen the space between the packaging and the product.

My design will use interlocking parts so will not need glue; Ink will be from a sustainable source and will be used sparingly.

Q) CAT is in part about educating people about how to live more sustainably. After seeing a wide range of displays on practical methods to lower dependence on a high carbon lifestyle [and bearing in mind where you chose to stand in the 'line' between tech solutions and/or a simpler life] - what two things might you yourself do to lessen your own carbon footprint in the future?

A) I already try to live a sustainable lifestyle, I compost everything that I can, and I recycle everything that is allowed in the recycling bin, I salvage what I can when renewing furniture (wood, screws, draws, mechanisms etc...). I could drive less; this would reduce my carbon footprint the most. I could also switch off electrical items when not in use, things like my PC, and the TV. I would also benefit from insulating my house properly.

Q) Describe 1 example of information display that you saw while at CAT: What it was, how it was presented graphically and in what context [i.e. covered area, out in the open, specialist display etc]. Could the display you saw be improved and how do you think this could be achieved?

A) One of the information displays I noticed while at CAT was the map of the centre. The colour looked as though it had faded quite a bit, and I think it would have benefitted from a starting point, “you are here” for example. Another were the “Tour Points”, these were just laminated paper and wasn’t very noticeable.